NASA Probe predicts, asteroid may hit Earth in 150 years

Experts predict that in 2135 Bennu could pass closer to Earth than the moon

New Delhi : NASA's Osiris-Rex reached the desired destination and revealed many things. The probe flew on December 3 to within a dozen miles of skyscraper-sized asteroid believed to hold organic compounds fundamental to life as well as the potential to collide with Earth in about 150 years.

The Probe was launched in September 2016 to embark on NASA's unprecedented seven-year mission to conduct a close-up survey of the asteroid Bennu, collect a sample from its surface and return that material to Earth for study.

Asteroid Bennu is a rocky mass roughly a third of a mile wide and shaped like a giant acorn, orbits the sun at roughly the same distance as Earth and is thought to be rich in carbon-based organic molecules dating back to the earliest days of the solar system. It is believed that the minerals in Bennu could hint the existence of water, which is an important component fot the evolution of life.

NASA scientists believe that asteroids and comets crashing into early Earth delivered organic compounds and water that seeded the planet for life, and atomic-level analysis of samples from Bennu could help prove that theory. Besides, there are other reasons to study Bennu.

Scientists estimate there is a one-in-2,700 chance of the asteroid slamming catastrophically into Earth 166 years from now. That probability ranks Bennu No. 2 on NASA's catalog of 72 near-Earth objects potentially capable of hitting the planet.

With the help of Osiris-Rex, scientists can understand how heat radiated from the sun is gently steering Bennu on an increasingly intimidating course through the solar system. That solar energy is believed to be nudging the asteroid ever closer toward Earth's path each time the asteroid makes its closest approach to our planet every six years.

"By the time we collect the sample in 2020 we will have a much better idea of the probability that Bennu would impact Earth in the next 150 years," mission spokeswoman Erin Morton said.

Experts have predicted that in 2135 Bennu could pass closer to Earth than the moon, which orbits at a distance of about 250,000 miles, and possibly come closer still sometime between 2175 and 2195.